FUMC choir to sing in Washington, D.C.

VW independent/submitted information

Van Wert’s First United Methodist Chancel Choir has been invited to perform in the National Memorial Day Choral Festival Concert 2020 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

The choir will be traveling from Van Wert by motor coach May 22-26, 2020, to Washington to rehearse with a festival chorus under the direction of Dr. Craig Jessop, former director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the U.S. Singing Sergeants. The festival chorus will be accompanied by the U.S. Air Force Symphony Orchestra.

First United Methodist Church Chancel Choir

This annual sold-out concert at the Kennedy Center will be held Sunday, May 24, 2020. Additionally, the Van Wert choir will perform at the opening ceremonies of the National Memorial Day Parade on Constitution Avenue on May 25.

“The selection process was made through a submission of recordings of the choir,” said Director Paul Hoverman.

The choir was also selected to sing at the 2016 Worldwide United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Oregon. “This probably aided in the selection process and eventual invitation,” Hoverman added.

While in D.C., the choir will also visit the Jefferson Memorial, the Marine Corps Iwo Jima Memorial, Korean, World War II, and Vietnam memorials, as well as the Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Choir members will also participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and attend the National Memorial Day Concert on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, that features the National Symphony Orchestra and is broadcast each year on PBS.

The First United Methodist Chancel Choir will give a local concert on May 31, 2020, once it returns from Washington, D.C.